


Puppy Palace

by Kpop_multi1028



Category: GOT7, Monsta X (Band), Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cute, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gay, Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, OT7, Puppy Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:55:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23298910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kpop_multi1028/pseuds/Kpop_multi1028
Summary: the story of Jooheon and how he has to come to terms with his feelings for his music partner with the help of his friends. we also follow Minhyuk around  his cafe as he helps all of his friends get their love while he still tries to find his own.we also delve into the world of Hyunwonho and Showki and how they have an input in the boys lives and how they are all intertwined without realising.alternate points of view in the same universe:RIABB- Kpopper (Showki POV)The Ornate Choker- GirlAhgase (Hyungwonho POV)Puppy Palace- Kpop_multi1028 (Jookyun/ Minhyuk POV)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 4
Collections: Monsta X AU





	1. Realisation

Monday  
Jooheon

Jooheon woke up to the piercing sound of his alarm and moaned as he pulled the blanket over his head. The ringing persisted, so Jooheon slowly moved around on his bed to turn it off. Knowing he had plans to meet with Changkyun, he got out of bed, grabbed his towel and headed to the shower. Jooheon connected his phone to the speaker before getting in and played a piece of music that he had been working on. After showering he threw on some comfortable clothes, as he is only going to be in the studio all day, but also wanted to look cool as he was going to be with I.M all day. Jooheon makes his bed quickly and goes downstairs to get a coffee before saying goodbye to his two cats and heading out the door. He only walks a short distance before he gets to the studio, that he and Changkyun share, and realises straight away that the lights were on. Jooheon enters the building quietly and walks straight his room. As he got to the door, he could hear music playing inside, ‘I swear to god if he didn’t go home and sleep, I’ll kill him’ he says to himself. Jooheon enters the room quietly to find a sleeping Changkyun curled up on the sofa in the corner and he smiles to himself. He finds himself looking at the soft expressing on his youngers face and feels an instant pull to him. He walks over carefully and squats down by the sofa in order to see the boy’s face better. Changkyun begins to shift and move about on the sofa when his eyes slowly flutter open. Jooheon quickly stands up straight and takes a step back from the boy as he sits up on the sofa. “Changkyun, how many times have I told you not to sleep on the studio.” Jooheon says teasing him. “Sorry Hyung, I just got caught up working on the song and fell asleep” Changkyun answers yawning. Jooheon laughs a little as he steps away towards the desk with all their stuff on, “why don’t you go to mine and get yourself cleaned up.” Jooheon suggests turning to look at a sleepy Changkyun. “Ok,” he responds, “can I have your key then?”. Jooheon reaches into his jacket pocket and gently throws Changkyun his key, “just be careful of Gucci and Yoshi” he says before Changkyun can leave the studio. Changkyun turns in the doorway and smiles softly at Jooheon “I know Hyung” this small action makes Jooheon’s heart skip a beat, this always happens when Changkyun calls him Hyung.

Shaking away the feeling, Jooheon turns back to the desk and sits down is his normal seat. Minutes pass and Jooheon is completely swallowed into his work and completely shuts out everything going on around him. More time passes and he doesn’t even realise that Changkyun has returned until he feels a hand appear on his shoulder. Jumping slightly at Changkyun’s sudden appearance, Jooheon turns around and looks up into his eyes. “Hello Hyung” Changkyun says in a soft voice. Jooheon stops before replying and is caught up looking at Changkyun’s features, the way his dark hair falls softly around his face, his sharp jaw that makes him look older than he really is and his eyes contain stars that glisten under the dim lighting. “Hyung?” Changkyun says, pulling Jooheon out of his head and back into the real world, “sorry I.M, what’s up?” Jooheon says calmly. “Have you seen what I did to the song yet?” I.M says shyly. Without saying anything, Jooheon turns back to the computer and starts playing the song. They sit there in silence together listening to the song and Jooheon closes his eyes to listen to the different melodies Changkyun had put into it. As the song ends Jooheon opens his eyes and looks towards I.M, “its great I.M, your voice sounds amazing” Jooheon says as Changkyun blushes and looks down to the floor. Jooheon once again turns back to the computer, this time with Changkyun taking a seat next to him, and they begin going through the layout of the song. The two boys get sucked into their work almost immediately and lose all sense of the world around them.

Hours later the boys finally decide to take a break. Jooheon picks up his phone to look at the time, 5:35 pm. He puts his phone into his back pocket and turns to I.M, “I think we should call it a day” Jooheon says smiling. “You're free to go. I’m going to stay a little bit longer to finish up” Changkyun says looking up from his phone slightly. Jooheon sighs at the younger and goes up to him on the sofa, “come on your not staying here again tonight”. At that Jooheon takes Changkyun’s phone from his hands and walks towards the door, “Hyung!” Changkyun shouts getting up off the sofa quickly. “come on, we’re going home” Jooheon says as he leaves the room walking into the hallway with Changkyun following along behind him. “fine,” Changkyun says laughing “but can I please have my phone back”. Jooheon smiles at the boy standing in front of him and slowly hands him back his phone. The two boys walk out of the building and Jooheon walks Changkyun to his car down the road, “go home and sleep” Jooheon says as they stop at Changkyun’s car, “I will Hyung, you can stop worrying” Changkyun says smiling. Jooheon smiles back at I.M and opens the car door for him as he says his goodbye. When the car eventually drives off, Jooheon slowly starts his walk home, his thought wondering back to I.M the whole time. Jooheon gets home in no time and is excited when he sees his cats waiting for him in the window. After locking the door behind him he squats down on the floor, “Hello babies” he says in a soft voice as they rub around him. After staying there for a moment, Jooheon slowly gets up off the floor and walks into the main part of the house, slumping himself down into one of his huge sofas. “What should I do?” he says mainly to himself, then he gets an idea. He gets his phone out of his back pocket and goes to his contact, he finds the correct person and presses the call button. After about the 5th time, a voice finally answers the phone, “mate, what took you so long to answer?” Jooheon says down the phone “I’m with Jinyoung, we are working. What’s up?” the deep voice replies “Jackson, I think I like someone, but I need your help.” Jooheon says shyly, and as if it is his cue Jackson starts making weird noises down the phone. “jack, please, I need your help.” Jooheon says trying to sound cute. Jackson finally stops and takes a deep breath. “Well, what does she like?” Jackson says. Jooheon stops for a moment to think of an answer ‘honesty is best in this situation’ he thinks to himself. “Well it is actually a he and he likes music” there was a moment of silence from Jackson and Jooheon’s heart almost stops. “Ok well, how well do you know him?” Jackson says, not changing his previous tone. Jooheon smiles to himself knowing that Jackson has accepted him, “I’ve known him since college” Jooheon says back, smiling to himself “wait, Jooheon do I know this person?” Jackson questions. Not knowing what to say Jooheon freezes, “maybe… yeah… I think so…” he says after a long silence “It’s I.M isn’t it?” Jackson says excitedly. Jooheon smiles at the excitement he hears down the phone and replies a small, quiet yes. From here Jackson and Jooheon talk late into the night and make plans to meet at Jackson’s favourite café in the centre of town.

Minhyuk

Just like every day, Minhyuk wakes up at 8:00 am to shower and have breakfast. He had a simple life, but he loved it, his job was looking after puppies and he got to meet so many famous people. It was amazing. At 9:00 am Minhyuk finally goes downstairs to open the shop and when he gets down there, the puppies were already awake playing, so he fed them before doing anything else. Once he had finished feeding all 10 puppies, he flicked the sign to say open and went into the back of the café to clean up the last bits from the previous week. Just as he finished cleaning, he heard the bell on the door ding, so he quickly made his way to the till, where he found a group of 5 boys standing over the puppies. “How can I help you, boys?” Minhyuk said quietly, so not to scare any of them. A small boy with deep brown eyes turns to look at Minhyuk and the others slowly follow, they then make their way to the counter. “we are from Beatz Interactive we just came out from dance rehearsal for a break. Is it ok for us all to be here?” the same boy says nervously. “Of course, it’s ok, feel free to go play with the puppies and relax. Is there any drinks I can get for you boys?” the boys all look at each other and start discussing their drink choices and they finally came to a group decision “can we get 5 coffees please” one at the back of the group says quietly. “Sure, can I just take a name so I don’t get them messed up with other orders?” all the boys look at each other nervously when the one at the very front says, “you can use ACE”. Minhyuk smiles at the boys and nods to them and motions to the puppies “they have just finished eating so they are probably getting ready to play” he says still smiling. All 5 boys turn to the puppies in the playpen and rush towards them giggling. Minhyuk walks back to the kitchen smiling and starts to make the boys drinks, which doesn’t take him very long, and when he returns all 5 boys are sleeping on the floor cuddled up with the puppies. He sets the drinks down quietly and retrieves the blankets from the cupboard at the back of the room. He always kept them in the shop for moments like this because it seemed to happen a lot. As he goes around gently placing blankets on the boys, he finds two of them cuddled together with a puppy in between them and he can’t help but stare at the two boys who were so different in size yet fitted together so perfectly. He gently placed the blanket over the two and went back into the kitchen. He served a few other people quietly but still goes back and forth checking on the boys and the puppies. When the café finally empties, he hears a boy starting to shift so he goes to check upon them. As he gets to them, he sees a boy slowly standing up with the blanket in his hand. “Hi, are you ok?” Minhyuk asks quietly, helping the boy step over the playpen gate. “Yeah, thank you for letting us in here, the boys needed this” the boy answered. He was a tall boy with a beautiful aura and his hair fell around his face gently, “I take it you’re used to idols coming into your café and sleeping” he says smiling. Minhyuk can’t help but laugh at the boy’s sleepy appearance but nods his head to answer his question. “My café is usually full of tired idols so feel free to come back if you ever need a break.” Minhyuk says quietly “thank you” the other boy replies “I’m Junee by the way, I’m the leader of ace”. Minhyuk bows respectfully and smiles back at the boy “I’m Minhyuk, it was nice to meet you Jun and who are the others” they both look back at the sleeping boys with puppies and they both laugh. “That one with the two puppies is Donghun he is our oldest member and next to that is Chan, he is our maknae and the two at the back are Sehyoon, also known as wow, and Beongkwan they are always together” Jun laughed but Minhyuk could hear the love in his voice. “You all seem very close.” Minhyuk says looking at Jun, and in return, all he gets back is a smile and a small nod. “Would you like anything to drink to take out with you?” Minhyuk asks quietly “no thank you, I’m just going to get the boys up and go as we still have practice”. Minhyuk gave Jun a soft smile and nodded “well can I ask you to sign the wall just so I can have a memory of you being here” Minhyuk says smiling and Jun gives a small excited nod in return. “just let me wake the boys first and then we would be happy to” Jun says with a big smile on his face. Minhyuk gentle places his hand on Jun’s shoulder and smiles before walking away back to the kitchen. Not very long after, all the boys appeared at the counter so Minhyuk hands them a pen and it goes straight to Jun and they all crowd around him as he signs the wall. They return at the counter to say their thanks and goodbyes and then leave the café quietly, talking to each other at a low volume.

Minhyuk smiled at the cute boys as they left the café and said to himself that today was going to be a good day. After that, he served his regular costumers and some new, all very kind and happy to see the puppies, which made Minhyuk happy as well. It then got to 3:00 pm and he was getting ready to shut up shop when a group of boys burst through the door. Shouts and laughter filled the café and Minhyuk flinched at the sudden increase of noise, but he knew exactly who had just entered his café. He made his way to the counter and was met by a bunch of familiar faces, “hello boys” he says smiling “how was the tour?”. All 7 boys smile back at Minhyuk when Jackson finally answers “it was good, thanks Min” he smiles at the boys again. “I was about to shut the shop, so what could I do for you all” all the boys let out unified complaining “please Min we won’t be here for long we just want to see the puppies”. This time it was from Mark who spoke, who was holding onto Yugyeom at the back of the group. All the boys looked at Minhyuk with plea, and he couldn’t say no to his most frequent and loved costumers, so he just nodded while laughing at them. “Would any of you like something to drink?” he asks and was instantly bombarded by several voices and drink suggestions, “one at a time!” he shouts over the increasing volume of voices, all the boys go quiet and look around at each other, clearly trying to decide who would go first. Minhyuk laughs at them again and decides to take control of this certain situation “JB you first, then mark, Jackson, Jinyoung, Youngjae, Bambam then Yugyeom.” All the boys go quiet as JB steps forward and tells Minhyuk what he wants, and all the boys follow in the order they were told. Once all the boys were done and Minhyuk finished writing down all the orders he looks back up smiling.

“Ok, while I get your drinks you can go see the puppies, I won’t take long.” he says and all the boys squeal as they turn and run to the puppy playpen. Minhyuk turns and walks back into the kitchen to make the drinks and when he returns, he almost falls over a small puppy running past. “For fuck sake,” Minhyuk says to himself as he put the drinks down on the counter “they let the puppies out the pen again”. Minhyuk picks back up the tray of drinks and heads into the main seating area and places them on a table near the back wall then goes back to follow the small puppy and picks it up before heading back to the main puppy area. Minhyuk stands in shock as he watches all 7 boys rush around the café trying to catch the other 9 puppies. Another puppy, being followed by Bambam, stops at Minhyuk’s feet so he slowly bends down and picks it up. He looks back up at a frozen Bambam and smiles “what exactly happened here?” Minhyuk says half laughing, half cringing at the mess of his cafe. “It wasn’t me!” Bambam states before running back into the chaotic mess. Minhyuk looks around at the mess that has ensued in his café and cringes. There are spilt drinks all over the floor and even up the wall and broken china shards scattered everywhere. Minhyuk quickly tries to locate of all the boys, and he finds Jackson and Mark running after three puppies, Bambam and Yugeom just sitting on the floor with a puppy each, JB and Youngjae and standing in the middle of the cafe both with a puppy talking to each other and Jinyoung was in the corner of the room just reading a book off the shelf. Minhyuk then starts to quickly count the puppies but can only find 9, he starts frantically walking around the room until he finds the till receipts on the floor, behind the counter, being attacked by a small white puppy. Minhyuk picks it up and now has three puppies balanced in his arms, suddenly he hears a loud snap and runs around to the seating area to see Jackson on the floor and a snapped table beside him. Bambam and Yugyeom are both laughing as the rest of the boys stand around him, staring in shock. “how the hell did you manage this?” Minhyuk says, slowly getting frustrated about the mess, and all the boys stop what they are doing and look at Minhyuk. “We are so sorry Minhyuk, we will help you clean up your café.” Jackson says bowing low, all the boys following his lead and bow as well. “It’s ok boys. Can you just help me find the other puppies, so I know they are safe” Minhyuk says and as he finishes the boys all nod and separate to find the puppies. Minhyuk takes the three puppies in his arms back to the playpen and gently places them down and waits for the boys to bring back the other puppies. Jackson arrives first with two puppies and carefully hands them to Minhyuk, then Bambam with another two puppies and finally Jinyoung and mark come with two more puppies between them and Youngjae reluctantly hands over the last, smallest, puppy. Minhyuk smiles at all the boys around him and stands up slowly, “thank you boys,” he says quietly “you can go now, don’t worry about the rest of the mess I’ll clean it up. Have a good night.” All 7 boys look at Minhyuk before bowing and heading towards the exit, and Minhyuk follows them slowly. “We are really sorry Min if you need any help in the future just let us know.” says Jackson before leaving the café. Minhyuk just smiles and nods at the boys as they leave and then eventually shuts the door behind them. Minhyuk turns around slowly and sighs at the mess of his café and heads straight to the playpen. 

His main concern was making sure the puppies were clean, comfy and safe. He moves all the mess away from the playpen and makes sure all the pillows are laid out properly. Once finishing the layout of the playpen, he goes into the kitchen to get their food, he uses a cup to put the right amount of food in each of the bowls and all the puppies come up and start eating. When he has finished and puts the food back in the kitchen, he realises that there is a large splash mark up the back wall of his café. Not knowing what else to do, he goes to retrieve the mop from the kitchen and fills it with hot water. He slowly manoeuvres his way to the back wall and begins cleaning the splash on the wall when he hears the bell on the door ding. He turns around to face the door with the mop still up against the wall which was causing a puddle to form on the floor. He sees Kihyun standing at the door with a confused look on his face as he looks around at the mess that had been left by the GOT7 boys. “Min what the fuck?” Kihyun says. Minhyuk instantly drops the mop and goes running to his friend at the door, hugging him tightly. When he steps away from Kihyun, he watches him scan the café and look around at the mess the other boys had left. Suddenly Kihyun runs around Minhyuk to the puppy playpen and stands there looking at the sleeping puppies on the array of pillows. After making sure that all the puppies are ok, Kihyun goes into the staff room and puts all his stuff down and then comes back out to help Minhyuk clean. “Thank you, Kiki.” Minhyuk says smiling as he hears Kihyun at the sink behind him, “my pleasure” Kihyun replies calmly. Once Kihyun started cleaning there was no way that Minhyuk could get any conversation out of him, so he just continues cleaning without speaking and soon the whole café was tidy again. “Thank you again, Ki,” Minhyuk says “this would have taken ages on my own”. Before sitting down with Kihyun, Minhyuk flips the sign on the door to say closed and goes to sit by the sleeping puppies. “They are calming aren’t they?” Minhyuk says after a short silence. “Yeah, I needed this today” Kihyun replies moving closer to the puppies “I shut up early today because I had a weird day, but it seems even weirder for you.” Kihyun giggled before speaking “I must ask what happened here?”. At the memory of the GOT7 boys being in the café, Minhyuk began laughing wildly, “well Jackson and the boys popped by because they just got back from tour and well you know how chaotic they are sometimes, especially with the puppies”. “And the table?” Kihyun questions, raising an eyebrow at Minhyuk “as I said, the boys were here” Minhyuk giggles. When he stops laughing, he looks at Kihyun and can see the cogs spinning in his head, so he waits for the thoughts to be spilt out from Kihyun’s head. “You should have told them to be more respectful, are they going to replace it?” Kihyun says with a clear sign of distress in his voice. Minhyuk sighed at his friend and hits the back of his head, “of course not!” he says laughing “it’s not like they meant to break it, and they were very respectful anyway, they even bowed to me!” Minhyuk makes sure to exaggerate what he just said so he points to himself smiling. Once he calms down, he speaks again “if I’ve learnt anything it’s that these young idols need somewhere safe to let off steam and I’m happy to provide that for them.” In response, Kihyun just tuts at Minhyuk. He could see the judging look growing on Kihyun’s face and laughs in his head “yeah that’s what idols need, more people treating them like royalty” Kihyun says. Minhyuk playfully pushes his friend of the beanbag and he slides back hitting the wall, “your so uptight Kihyun, you need to get laid!” Minhyuk says laughing but then soon realises Kihyun’s face going a deep pink and he gets all flustered. “oh... do you have someone in mind? Look at you, you look like a tomato, you do! Tell me!” Minhyuk shouts excitedly. He could always tell if Kihyun was hiding something from him or had something on his mind and this was one of those times, but he still knew that Kihyun would lie to him just so he wouldn’t have to explain himself. “No, I don’t, what are you talking about.” Kihyun said, obviously lying, “oh yes you do, who is he?” Minhyuk squealed, happy that he had finally discovered the problem with Kihyun. Minhyuk swung himself around so he could place his elbows on the beanbag and rest on them to look up at Kihyun, he smiled as he spoke to him. “you never shut up shop early and come here for no reason. Now I know why, so who is he?” he watched a Kihyun gave a shy smile in response, “there isn’t anyone, not like that anyway!” Kihyun protested “there was a really rude guy that had no idea how to work the computer and then he took a book without checking it out and you know how that makes me” Minhyuk raised his eyebrow at Kihyun and smiled at him trying to hold in laughter “I didn’t know you were into bad boys.” Minhyuk says into Kihyun’s ear. A pillow collided with the side of Minhyuk’s ear and picked up two pillows next to him and hit Kihyun with them, from there the two boys fought on the floor like children, giggling until they both turned red. They were bombarded by small puppies climbing over them and nipping at the hands and faces. When both boys had calmed down a puppy had taken residence on Kihyun’s chest and another had snuggled into Minhyuk’s side. Both boys carefully sat up with the puppies in their arms and Kihyun reached out to take Minhyuk’s hand “thank you min, I needed this”

The two stayed on the floor chatting for a while before Kihyun stated that he should leave for home. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay and talk about it?” Minhyuk said softly as he watched Kihyun button up his coat at the front door. “Nothing really to talk about Min, a weird guy was rude, checked me out and then stole my book, it’s pretty open and close.” Kihyun said quietly. Minhyuk looked at Kihyun’s face and couldn’t help but smile although he tried his best to hide it. “What?” Kihyun said when he realised what Minhyuk was doing. “You don’t let anything interfere with your library and yet you shut up early to come here.” Minhyuk said and before Kihyun could say anything he continued “and don’t say it’s about some economics textbook, that means nothing to you, which could only mean that it is the guy. You’ve been alone for so long and this could be a great opportunity, you did say he was checking you out so maybe….” Minhyuk stopped when he saw the look on fury growing on Kihyun’s face. “I’m sorry, I know that I ramble, but I make a good point.” Minhyuk said quietly looking towards the floor. Kihyun stayed quiet in front of Minhyuk, obviously thinking of a response, but instead, he just looked at Kihyun with a stern look as he walked out the café, letting the door slam behind him. Minhyuk was left standing in his café alone in silence and instantly regretted saying that stuff to Kihyun, he locked the door shortly after Kihyun left and then turned to look at his now clean café. Before doing anything, he went back over to the sleeping puppies and made sure their playpen was clean and organised, also making sure that they had enough food and water to last them till the morning. When Minhyuk was finally satisfied he went straight upstairs into his flat and into his room where he dropped onto his bed almost immediately. When he finally found the effort, he got off the bed and got changed into his more comfortable clothes that he would sleep in, and then climbed into his bed. Due to the very long and exhausting day, it didn’t take Minhyuk to fall asleep and sleep quite peacefully through the night.


	2. Tuesday  All you can do is wait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys are just living their life waiting for something to finally happen but they don't know what that will be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a filler chapter so it's very short and doesn't have a lot of impact in the story but hope you still enjoy it.

Tuesday Jooheon

Jooheon woke up to his alarm squealing next to his head, “bloody alarm” he said to himself as he rolled over slowly to turn it off. He picked up his phone once the alarm had stopped going off and decided to check his work emails. As he scrolled through the emails and found nothing but deadlines and complaints, he threw his phone to the side and got out of bed. After taking a shower, Jooheon went into his front room and sat on the sofa with his cats. He stayed there for a while with the TV playing in the background and worked on other songs he needed to do for Starship, his company. Eventually, he had finished all his work and decided to go out to get the things he needed, he slowly wandered around the house collecting up his things and headed out the door with his headphones in. he walked quickly to the shop at the pace of his music and wandered around the store picking up all the stuff he needed. “shampoo, drink, toilet roll and toothpaste” he said, going through the list in his head.

Finally, comfortable that he had picked up everything he needed, he made his way to the counter and paid for his things. Just as he was about to leave the shop, he bumped into a group of boys all chattering to one another and looked up to meet one of the boy’s eyes. He almost instantly recognised the pools of brown staring back at him and smiled. “Hello Taeyong.” he said taking out his headphones and putting them in his pocket, “hello Jooheon Hyung.” Taeyong said quietly as the other boys surrounding him fell quiet. Jooheon looked around at the eager eyes and smiled at them, they all smiled back when another boy stepped forward and looked down and Jooheon slightly. “Hello Jaehyung.” Jooheon said smiling at another familiar face, without responding he pulled Jooheon into a short hug and Jooheon hugged back tightly. They pulled away from each other and laughed, “well it was nice to see you all again but I must be going” Jooheon said, and was returned with a sea of nodding heads so he excused himself and manoeuvred around the boys out of the shop. He made his way home and it only took him about half an hour. He stumbled into his house, tired and with aching feet, and threw himself down onto the sofa where Yoshi and Gucci had cuddled up together. he flicked off his shoes and sunk further into the sofa where he was absorbed into the warmth of the two cats and his collecting of blankets and pillows. He slowly dozed off into a deep sleep and stayed there through the night, cuddled into his two cats.

Minhyuk

Minhyuk woke up slowly as his alarm played softly in the background. He got out of bed straight away and turned off his alarm, he wandered around the room getting dressed and sorting out his appearance and when he felt he finally looked presentable; he made his way downstairs into the café. He smiled at the perfectly clean café and went straight over to the puppies, who were all awake and waiting for their food, and bent down to stroke them. After squatting down next to the pen for about five minutes, he finally got up to get their food and feed them. He went into the kitchen area and got the food then came back to fill up the bowl, which was a very difficult process as none of the puppies would wait and bombarded the bowls all at once. Finally, when he had finished, he walked over to the door and flicked the sign over to say ‘open’ and smiled out the window to the sun softly shining across the rooftops. He turned back to the café and smiled once again, before walking back over to the counter and sorting out the till before any costumers could arrive.

Breaking his concentration, he heard the bell at the door go off, so he looked up slowly and met the eyes of a pair of boys that he was familiar with. “hello, you two” Minhyuk said smiling and was met by two equally smiley and happy faces, “I thought you would be rehearsing” he said. Bambam looks to his side at Yugyeom and then back at Minhyuk, “well we wanted to see the puppies again and also jack said that we should come to see if you need anything”. Minhyuk smiles at the two and then laughs “I did say it was ok, and besides I have already cleaned the café” he stated, and the two boys stand in front of him with a guilty look on their faces. “we know but Jackson said we should also come and apologise again because we didn’t do it enough last time” Yugyeom said finally looking up from the floor and directly at Minhyuk. Minhyuk smiles softly at the two young boys and nods “its ok boys, just go say hello to the puppies and I will get you drinks”. Both boys give hesitant looks but then smile widely and run over to the puppy pen where they sit down in the middle and wait for the puppies to come to them, which doesn’t take very long.

Minhyuk goes into the kitchen to get the boys drinks and then hears the bell at the door ring again. He picks up the drinks and quickly rushes to the front of the café to investigate who had just entered his café. He sees only familiar faces and is instantly relieved, so he wanders over to the puppy pen and places the drinks on the table next to the boys and gets big smiles from both as he leaves. After about an hour or so the two boys leave, after paying and apologising once more, and Minhyuk goes through the rest of his day dealing with his normal costumers and some other idols coming in for a break. The time eventually hits 3:00 pm and he decides to close the shop, he goes straight up to the door and flicks the sign to say ‘closed’. He wonders around the café cleaning the leftover plates and cups and goes into the kitchen, he cleans up the kitchen and all the equipment and then heads into the main café area with the food for the puppies and heads over to their pen. He squats down and fights around the herd of puppies to get to their bowls, and finally manages to put food in all 10 bowls. Once he finishes, he goes back into the kitchen and returns the food before going upstairs into his apartment. He plods around his apartment for a while tidying and then eventually goes into the kitchen to get something to eat. He decides to be basic and just have ramyeon because he is too tired to do anything else and then straight after he goes into his room and goes to bed. “Today was a good day.” he says to himself as he falls asleep smiling.


	3. Thursday   Things start coming together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to miss out Wednesday as I had nothing planned and skip to Thursday so it can get a bit more interesting. I recommend reading the other stories in the same universe so that you can have a backstory to the other characters that will be used throughout my story.  
> hope you enjoy :)

Thursday Minhyuk 

Minhyuk woke up to the silence in his room and slowly sat up confused, “what time is it” he says to himself as he picks up his phone from the bedside unit. He looks down at his phone and reads the time, 9:30 am, “shit I’m late!” he shouts as he scrambles out of bed. He quickly throws on some clothes and checks his hair in the mirror as he runs out of the apartment and downstairs into the café. “I’m so glad I cleaned last night” Minhyuk sighs as he walks straight to the front door and flips the sign. He then heads to the counter to sort out all the stuff he will need for the day when a large group of boys come bursting through the door. He watches as the boys finally calm down and make their way over to him at the counter. “good morning” the boy at the front says cheerfully, “Hello, what can I get for you boys?” Minhyuk replies calmly. The boys all look at each other and then back at Minhyuk “we are stray kids from JYPE we were told by Jackson that this was a good place to hang out” another boy says. “of course it was Jackson that sent them” he thinks to himself and smiles, “well you are welcome anytime and there are two big tables at the back of the café if you all want to sit together” Minhyuk said smiling. All the boys light up instantly and excitedly make their way to the back of the room and a few go off to the puppy pen where they start playing and cuddling the puppies. Minhyuk wonders into the kitchen to make sure that everything is clean and prepared and then goes back out to check on the boys. Minhyuk eyes scan the back of the café and he laughs at himself when he finally finds the last two boys, that looked like the youngest, cuddled up on the floor of the puppy pen asleep. He slowly approaches the back of the café and waits for there to be a break in the noise so he can talk to them, however, he is almost instantly seen by one of the boys and he shushes the boys straight away. He smiles and nods at the boy and then speaks “I was just wondering if I could get anything for you boys” all the boys looked at one another and spoke about choice then eventually chose a spoke person that was the same boy that shushed them, “must be the leader”, Minhyuk thought to himself. “just 6 lemonades please because the other two boys have fallen asleep” the boys with beautiful golden hair said smiling. Minhyuk nodded smiling then turned and made his way back to the kitchen to get the drinks. While he was in the kitchen, he hears the bell at the door go, so he stops getting the drinks and runs around to the front door, “you’re not a reporter, are you?” he said bluntly, not changing his expression, Shownu shook his head slowly and the boy’s expression instantly softened “come on in then!” he said cheerfully, waving his arm wildly.

Once he felt that the young boys would not be disturbed or interrupted, he walked away from the man at the door and back to the kitchen. He carries the two trays of drinks to the boys at the back of the room and is met by a crowd of appreciative looks and lots of thank you. he then heads to the cupboard and gets out two blankets for the boys asleep, he goes back over to them and gently places the blankets over them, being watched by all the other boys the whole time. Once he had finished, he goes back to the counter and watches as the man he just let into the café takes down notes rapidly and occasionally takes glances up at the boys at the back of the café. Minhyuk can’t help but think that the man is cute and instantly thinks about Kihyun’s need of a boyfriend, “this one would be good for Kihyun” he says to himself smiling and then decides to text Kihyun about the man but is interrupted by the bell ringing again. He almost leaps over the counter so that he can stop whoever has just entered the café and stands there looking sternly into the face of a big built man on his phone. He finally looks up and Minhyuk keeps the stern look on his face, “are you a reporter?” Minhyuk barks in a quiet tone and the boy turns to look behind him surprised, obviously not realizing what café he had just walked into. The man looks behind him briefly before saying “What? me? no” the man responded and Minhyuk instantly let out a sigh of relief, “ok good, well please take a seat.” he said smiling and then walked back to the counter to collect his pad so he could collect the men’s orders when he realized they had sat together. Minhyuk wanders over “sorry, can never be too careful when I’ve got idols in” his eyes wander over to the two sleeping boys “what can I get for you?” Minhyuk says smiling and the more built man orders for the both of them with a smile, the other man interrupts ordering an iced choco and a snack instead. 

Minhyuk goes into the kitchen and made their order, then heads back out, he can tell he has interrupted something as he slowly places it down at their table. He bows slightly as he walks away and apologizing for interrupting them once again and both boys smile at him and thank him. Minhyuk disappears into the kitchen and decides that he should tell Kihyun about the two hot boys that are sitting together in his café, so he gets his phone out from his pocket and starts typing. 

From: Min  
To: Kiki  
Ki, there are two very hot boys in my café right now, you need to be here. Xx

From: Kiki  
To: Min  
Oh really, well I’m on my way so try to keep them there for as long as possible. Xx

Minhyuk laughs to himself and puts his phone back into his pocket and then walks back out into the main café area. Both boys are still there but it looks like one of them is getting ready to leave. He watches as the two men talk to each other and round up their conversation and then the first man gets up and leaves the café, smiling and bowing slightly at Minhyuk as he left. A few moments later the bell rings and Kihyun enters the café, he watches as Kihyun wanders in, going straight to the puppy pen. They all bounced excitedly greeting him. He looked different, his hair shorter and his clothing style had changed completely. He strolled over to the counter, “Look, ah” Kihyun rubbed the back of his head nervously “I’m sorry, can we maybe talk when it’s a bit quieter?” he asked shyly, stuttering slightly. “I’ve always got time for my best friend” Minhyuk winks at him and he breaks into a smile. “How comes you aren’t at the library anyway? Surely you haven’t locked up this early!” Minhyuk suddenly said loudly, staring at Kihyun. “No, of course not. I’ve taken this week off” Kihyun responded, Min turned to him a huge grin on his face. “What are we doing this weekend then?” he said quizzically, mischief returning to his eyes. Kihyun looked at him skeptical, unsure what Min would have in mind. Minhyuk began moving, “I’m going to see the puppies now.” he said strolling away. Minhyuk went to collect up the empty glasses from the boys at the back of the café, as he returned from the sink, he saw the big built man from the table approach the counter with a curious look on his face. Minhyuk smiled and guessed he was going to pay so he wandered back over to the counter, the man apologizes for the noise and with a smile and says, “is your friend the librarian from around the corner?” Minhyuk, stared at him, confused. “what Kihyun?” he said, and the man nodded, “yes, he has been there since college” Minhyuk continued as he gave the man his change. “do you know him; I can call him back If you want to say hello?” Minhyuk said, staring at Kihyun around the man. Kihyun diverted his attention. The man panicked a little and then stuttered “no it’s ok, my friend knows him not me” he thanked Minhyuk and then said goodbye and left quickly. Minhyuk stood behind the counter in shock, was the friend he referenced the guy here earlier? How did Kihyun know him and how had he never told him? Finally, realizing that he should check up on the other group of boys he moves to the back of the cafe. 

“How are all of you doing?” Minhyuk said quietly and the boys looked up at him and smiled, “we are doing ok, thank you for letting us in your café” one of the boys said smiling. “my pleasure, the only thing I ask is if you could sign my wall before you leave just as a record of you being here”. All the boys smiled and nodded back at Minhyuk until one of them spoke “Jackson was right your café is a great place, I don’t think the babies have ever slept so much before” and he giggled afterward. “Thank you,” Minhyuk said smiling “I take it you’re the leader”. The boy smiled shyly, “is it that obvious?” he asked as he looked around at the member and they all nodded. He laughed at them and then looked back at Minhyuk, “yes I’m the leader, and the oldest” he said quietly. “can you introduce me to the rest of your team?” Minhyuk asked quietly, “of course,” he smiled “I’m Bang Chan, the leader, that’s Minho, the lead dancer then there is Hyungjin and Felix who are also in our dance line, they are over with the puppies, then there is Han and Chanbin who are rappers and also part of the producing team with me, then you have I.N and Seungmin who are our vocalists, and that’s everyone”. Minhyuk smiled around at all the boys and bowed slightly to all of them “well it’s nice to meet all of you, I’m Minhyuk but your welcome to just call me Min” the boys all bowed back to Minhyuk in their seats and then smiled widely back at him “thank you again for letting us stay here” Bang Chan said smiling. “No problem, I’m glad you boys have enjoyed yourselves. Now I must get back to the kitchen so just call me if you need anything” and at that, he bowed and walked away. Minhyuk walks away smiling wide and gestures Kihyun over excitedly. He disappears into the kitchen, hiding behind the door and when as he feels the boy’s presence, he jumps out grabbing his waist tightly. Minhyuk is satisfied when he squeals loudly in response. Kihyun grabs his chest, breathing heavily and Minhyuk wraps his arms around Kihyun tightly and nuzzles into his shoulder. “That guy that just left asked about you.” he said quietly, “Oh really? I didn’t recognize him” Kihyun stated, “He asked your name, said his friend knew you”. Minhyuk watched as Kihyun thought about his statement, “there was a guy with him earlier, he kind of looked like the book thief you described” Minhyuk said after a pause. “You think so?” Kihyun said quietly and Minhyuk grinned mischievously, “Yeah, well he had gorgeous broad shoulders, was quite tall… and a chest you could eat chocolate off.” Since he was still holding onto Kihyun, he felt him tense at his words and watched as his neck and ears went red and finally released him giggling. “I still have customers.” Minhyuk said, leaving the kitchen quickly. He starts cleaning down the tables and not long after, sees Kihyun wander out the kitchen and back into the puppy pen. As he passes by he sees that Kihyun has carefully placed himself around the two sleeping boys and was making sure the blanket was still wrapped around them so they wouldn’t get cold. “Stop treating them like royalty” Minhyuk joked and just got a stern look back from Kihyun but he laughed and carried on walking towards the back of the room, he took some cash from the boys and went back to the till where he looked round to see them getting ready to leave. They all come up to the counter and smile at Minhyuk, “will you be leaving now then” Minhyuk says smiling and the boys all nod together in response. “Will you be willing to signs my wall?” Minhyuk says smiling, “of course!” Bang Chan replies smiling, taking a pen out of the pot on the counter and they all head to the wall together. They stand huddled around Bang Chan as he signs the wall and when he finishes they all together shout, ‘STRAY KIDS WOO’ and smile at Minhyuk. “There you go,” Han says smiling “we put our mark on your shop”. Minhyuk laughs at Han quietly and nods, “thank you boys” he says quietly, and all the boys bow at Minhyuk, so he does the same in return. Bang Chan pulls him into a tight hug whispering another sincere thank you before he leaves.

Minhyuk goes to join Kihyun in the puppy pen and falls into a large beanbag, closing his eyes. He knows he should start cleaning but Kihyun has already beat him to it, “I can do that myself” Minhyuk says laughing and opening his eyes. Kihyun turns around to meet his eyes laughing as well, “I know I just thought I could help because I could see how busy you have been” Kihyun says when he stops laughing. “Thanks, ki.” Minhyuk says getting up off the beanbag and going over to helps Kihyun pick up the last few bits and Kihyun just smiles and nods at him. Once they had finished cleaning Kihyun states that he needed to go home to his cat so they both say goodbye and Minhyuk finishes cleaning the café. Just as Minhyuk is about to close the shop, he hears the bell go and two boys enter the café talking, “I just want to go to bed” Minhyuk thinks to himself as he watches the two boys take a seat in the corner of the café. He instantly recognizes the boys and smiles to himself; he walks over slowly and stands next to their table. “I was just about to shut the café but seem as though it is you two you can stay for a while, but I’ll be cleaning about the café just so you know.” Minhyuk says tiredly, “thank you Minhyuk.” Jooheon says with a smile on his face “we won’t be that long” Jackson adds and smiles as well. Minhyuk just nods at the boys and walks off to finish tidying. He goes straight into the kitchen to collect the food for the puppies and then goes to the pen to feed them, he steps in the pen and sits down on the floor and puts food in each of the bowls and then slowly lays down on one of the big bean bags to the side of the pen where he slowly falls asleep cuddled into the blanket that was already there from the last set of boys.

Jooheon

Jooheon walked into the café with Jackson but didn’t even stop to look for Minhyuk, he knew that he would be off doing something in the café but he did make sure to direct Jackson to the corner of the café so they wouldn’t be in his way. They both sat down and later Minhyuk appeared next to the table. Minhyuk was one of Jooheon’s very close friends so he knew that he was tired so from here he decided that it would be a good idea for him and Jackson to stay quiet in the café. “I was just about to shut the café but seem as though it is you two, you can stay for a while, but I’ll be cleaning around the café, just so you know.” Minhyuk said quietly and both Jooheon and Jackson nod in response. “Thank you, Min.” Jooheon says with a smile on his face, “we won’t be that long” Jackson adds and smiles as well. He watches as Minhyuk disappears into the café to continue cleaning and then he turns back to Jackson opposite him, who has a big smile on his face looking at Jooheon. “What?” Jooheon says laughing, “nothing, I can just tell that you like someone.” Jackson says laughing at Jooheon a bit too loudly, disturbing the puppies so Jooheon shushes him. “what do you mean?” Jooheon says feeling himself getting shy, “well you don’t seem as stressed as you usually do, and you seem a lot happier”. Jooheon looks down at his hands in his lap to try and hide his flushed cheeks and then slowly looks back up to meet Jackson’s gaze. “Well… explain yourself.” Jackson says smiling, “well you already know who it is, and you already know about his personality so there isn’t a lot to explain.” Jooheon says calmly, trying to stop his cheeks from flushing. “I meant to explain how it happened, you idiot.” Jackson says, “oh, well… I don’t know… it just kind of happened… we were spending so much time together that I just got used to him being around me and it didn’t feel the same when he wasn’t at my side.” Jooheon says, taking a deep breath once he had finished and waited patiently for Jackson to say something. “You really do like him, don’t you?” Jackson says meeting Jooheon’s eyes, “yeah… I do…” Jooheon says quietly. “well I’ll tell you what I can do. I can contact a friend to get you set up with a new outfit so all you have to do is decide on where you are going to ask him out and when” Jackson says sounding professional but also had a huge grin plastered on his face. “Thank you, Jackson.” Jooheon says quietly looking down at his hands. Jooheon stays there for a moment until he feels the table move slightly, he looks up and sees that Jackson has got up and moved to his side. He slowly stands up and matches Jackson’s height. He is pulled into a tight hug and Jackson whispers into his ear “I love you Jooheon, thank you so much for telling me”. Jooheon smiles and pulls away from Jackson slowly, “thank you so much for supporting me” he says smiling trying to contain his tears. Jackson just nods back at Jooheon and then smiles, Jooheon steps back slightly and looks around the café. 

His eyes shift over to the playpen where he finds Minhyuk cuddled up on the beanbag with two puppies in his arms. He looks at Jackson and then gestures back over to Minhyuk, they both look at the peacefully sleeping boy and smile. Jackson turns back to Jooheon and then says he will leave first and heads to the door before turning around and waving. Jooheon waves at Jackson as he leaves and then heads over to the playpen where he stands for a moment looking at the sleeping boy and all the puppies. He steps over the gate and gracefully moves around the puppies on the floor until he gets to the boy curled up on the beanbag. He squats down next to the sofa and places his hand on the boy’s shoulder, “Minhyuk, hey, you need to wake up” Jooheon says softly. The boy shifts under Jooheon’s hand and his eyes flutter open, “hi Jooheon” he mumbles quietly. Jooheon smiles back at him, “hi Min”. Jooheon slowly helps Minhyuk sit up on the sofa and places himself down next to him. He watches the boy rub his eyes awake and move the puppies around him onto the floor. He has obviously got his priorities straight, Jooheon thinks to himself smiling. “How long was I asleep for?” Minhyuk asks sleepily, still rubbing his eyes. “well Jackson has left now so it’s just me and you” Jooheon says quietly, “oh really? I’m sorry I fell asleep and didn’t get you anything” Minhyuk says suddenly sitting up properly. Jooheon places his hand on Minhyuk’s shoulder to reassure him, “its ok Min, we weren’t here for long and we were just talking anyway”. He looks at Minhyuk and smiles, he could see how tired the boy was, he takes his hand off his shoulder and slowly stands up. “Come on you need to go to bed.” Jooheon says putting out his hand for Minhyuk. The boy takes it carefully and stands up slowly to face Jooheon head-on. Jooheon takes a small step back, still holding onto Minhyuk’s hand, and looks away feeling himself blush at the boy’s cute appearance. “why are you blushing?” Minhyuk jokes, lifting Jooheon’s chin so that their eyes met. The big smile on the boy’s face made Jooheon think of Changkyun and that made him blush even more, “you just reminded me of a friend, that’s all” Jooheon says taking his chin out of Minhyuk’s grip. “Oh, you like this friend, don’t you?” Minhyuk says smiling and Jooheon instantly looks back up in shock. “how did you know?” Jooheon asks in confusion and shock, “I’m gay, and I have dealt with enough people who have crushes, that I can identify it from a mile away” Minhyuk says laughing at the shocked expression on Jooheon’s face. “Oh right, ok.” Jooheon says still confused about how Minhyuk could tell from a single sentence. “So, who is it?” Minhyuk says breaking Jooheon from his thoughts, “it’s… umm… Changkyun… my music partner” Jooheon says, stuttering. “well I hope it goes well for you Jooheon, let me know if you ever need anything” Minhyuk’s says placing a hand on Jooheon’s shoulder “but now I must ask you to leave so I can shut the shop and finish cleaning”. Jooheon smiles and lets out a sigh in relief, “thank you, Min and ok I’ll see you soon”. Jooheon places his hand over Minhyuk’s and then turns and walks towards the door with Minhyuk slowly trailing behind him. “I’ll see you later Minhyuk.” Jooheon says as he leaves the café and Minhyuk smiles and waves as he walks away from the building.

Jooheon walks home slowly thinking through all of today's past events and smiles. He is so lucky to have supportive friends, and that they are all willing to accept and love him for who he is. Before he knows it Jooheon has arrived back at his home and goes straight to bed. He hovers around in his bedroom as he gets changed and then falls straight into bed. He is greeted by his two cats and they burry themselves into him almost immediately, the heat coming off the two cats slowly sends Jooheon off to sleep.

Extra  
Jackson 

After meeting with Jooheon, he slowly wandered back to his apartment. While walking, his phone buzzed quietly so he got it out from his jacket pocket and turned it on. It was from Jinyoung, so he opened it straight away.

To: Suni  
From: junior  
Hi Suni, where are you? You have been gone for ages and I miss you. Xxx  
Jackson smiled to himself before he types a response.

To: junior  
From: Suni  
I’m on my way home now Jinyoungie. I’ll see you in a bit. Xxx

Jackson smiled to himself again and puts his phone back into his pocket before speeding up his pace and heading back to his apartment. He gets through the door of the apartment and all he can hear is a soft humming from the kitchen. He walks in further and finds Jinyoung standing over the oven singing to himself. He quietly goes up behind him and wraps his arms around the boy's waist, he feels Jinyoung’s body tense against him but instantly relaxes when he realizes who it is. “hello Jackson” Jinyoung says in a soft tone, “hello baby” Jackson says burrowing his head into Jinyoung’s neck. “where were you?” Jinyoung says turning around to face Jackson, “I was out with Jooheon, that’s all, I promise.” Jackson says, still holding onto Jinyoung’s waist. “ok, I trust you.” Jinyoung says pulling Jackson into a hug. “I love you.” Jackson says quietly and feels Jinyoung laugh against his chest, “I love you too” he replies, pulling away from the hug and looking carefully at Jackson’s face.

The two boys hover in the kitchen together while they wait for their food to be ready and when it is done, they both sit at the table together talking about their day and eat dinner together. once they have finished, Jinyoung heads to their room but Jackson stays in the living room as he still needs to sort out some stuff for Jooheon. He gets out his phone, after saying goodnight to Jinyoung, and calls one of the top numbers. The phone is answered straight away, “hello, this is Wonho’s design house, what can I do for you?” a lady says down the phone. “hi Dani, its Jackson” he says smiling, “oh, hi Jackson, what can I do for you?” Jackson takes a deep breath before responding and hears the light breathing down the phone. “I was wondering if I could get an appointment with Wonho tomorrow.” Jackson says finally and hears a short gasp from Dani. “Jackson, you know that is almost impossible, we get our new season of clothing in tomorrow.” Dani says with panic clear in her voice. “I know, but this is for a friend who needs help.” Jackson says, basically begging Dani down the phone. “Alright let me check Hoseok’s schedule.” Dani says before the line goes quiet and Jackson waits patiently for her to return. “ok,” Dani says, catching Jackson off guard “the delivery gets in at 10 am so you will have to come in in the afternoon”. Jackson nods to himself “that’s perfect Dani, thank you” he says happily, “you’re lucky Hoseok loves you” she says, and Jackson laughs loudly down the phone. “Thank you again, Dani, you’re a real-life saver.” Jackson says smiling and Dani just mumbles your welcome down the phone and laughs before hanging up because she had more work to do. Immediately after hanging up, Jackson texts Jooheon the details of when and where they are meeting and then turns off his phone and heads into his bedroom to get ready for bed. When he walks in, he sees Jinyoung sitting in bed reading so he quietly maneuvers around the room while getting ready for bed because he didn’t want to disrupt him. When he finished, he slowly climbs into the bed and snuggles into Jinyoung’s side. Jinyoung takes one hand off his book and places it on Jackson’s back, gently stroking him with his thumb. This sends Jackson off to sleep almost immediately and not long after Jinyoung puts his book down, turns the lamp off and slides down the bed. He falls asleep slowly while being wrapped in Jackson’s arms and they both sleep like that till the next morning.


	4. Friday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the start of how the boys lives will change and what they have to do in order to find the right person for them.

Friday  
Jooheon

Jooheon woke before his alarm today, the whole night he had twisted and turned and just couldn’t sleep. He had thought about all the different outcomes meeting with Jackson’s friends could have and most of them were pretty bad. He laid in bed until his alarm started going off and then he slowly got out and started getting ready. He wanted to make a good first impression on Jackson’s friend, so he threw on some black skinny jeans with a plain black top and then his favourite leather jacket. He looked stylish yet comfortable. He finally finished getting ready and before he left he stood in front of the mirror making sure he looked presentable, he looked down at his clothes and then his styled hair and felt somewhat pleased with his appearance. He still had quite a while before he had to go meet Jackson at Minhyuk’s café so he slowly sat down onto the sofa and cuddled into his cat. He felt himself slowly slip off into a light sleep and snuggled further into the warm ball of fur beneath him. He woke up to the little body beneath him shifting and sat up quickly not knowing what had happened. He looked around and found his phone, so he quickly picked it up and checked the time. 2:37 pm, he was meeting Jackson in half an hour so he got himself off the sofa and went over to the mirror. He neatened out his hair and flattened out his clothes and when he was finally satisfied with his appearance, for the most part, he left the house, shutting the door tightly behind him. 

He quickly made his way to the puppy café, where he was meeting Jackson, and stood outside until a small red mini pulled up in front of him. He bent down and saw Jinyoung in the driver’s seat, “hi Jinyoung, where’s Jackson?” Jooheon said and before Jinyoung could reply Jackson leaned around him and smiled widely at Jooheon. “I’m here, now come on and get in!” Jackson shouted and Jooheon slowly made his way over and got into the car. All three boys sat quietly as the radio played in the background and Jooheon felt his anxiety slowly rising in his chest. Thoughts filled his head, and none of them were exactly positive, the only thing keeping him grounded was the thought of him finally being able to be with Changkyun. “Jooheon! Hello! Come on we are here” Jackson shouted breaking Jooheon from his thoughts. Jooheon slowly nodded and got out the car, he waited for Jackson to say goodbye to Jinyoung and then they both watched as he drove away. Once the car had fully disappeared, both boys turned to look at the small building that blended perfectly with the ones surrounding it. Jooheon took a deep breath before slowly walking inside with Jackson taking the lead. They both made their way to the lift at the back of the building and got in straight away. Jackson pressed the button to the 1st floor and the lift doors clattered shut, the lift slowly moved up and then came to a halt dropping slightly which made Jooheon’s stomach churn. Once again, Jackson took lead down a small corridor towards a simplistic, wooden door at the end. Jackson walked confidently into the main reception area where they were greeted by a small lady sitting behind the desk.

“Hi, Dani!” Jackson shouts excitedly making the lady flinch. “Hello Jackson.” the lady said quietly standing up from her seat, “Is Hoseok free?” Jackson said still at the same volume. “Give me a minute and I’ll go check.” the lady said before dismissing herself and going into the room behind her. Both boys stood in the reception quietly and Jooheon could still feel the anxiety growing but tried his best to control it. Not long after, the lady appeared again and gestured back to where she had come from so Jackson followed her into the huge office. Jooheon looked around at the beautiful office, huge sofas lined each wall and desk at the back of the room had piles of fabric covering the space. The lady left the room and Jooheon followed Jackson as he made his way further into the office. Jackson spoke first “Hoseok this is my friend Jooheon, I think I have mentioned him before” and as he finished he stepped to the side, Jooheon was greeted by a large built man with muscles that were just about being contained by his tight fit clothes. He stepped towards Jooheon and he felt his anxiety flare again, Jackson had spoken about this man so much that it almost didn’t seem real that he was standing in front of him. Jooheon bowed respectfully as the man stuck out his hand, he could feel the awkwardness between them, and the anxiety just kept growing. He stuck his hand out quickly as the other man bowed and could also feel Jackson looking at them closely. To break the awkward silence that Jooheon had made, Jackson laughed loudly and grabbed both of the boys, “you two need to chill, come sit down and see if you can put up with each other!” He dragged both of us over to the sofa and pushed us down onto one as he flopped down onto the one opposite. Jooheon felt his whole body tense on the impact and slowly sat back up, he tried his best to relax but his body seemed to go against him and could not relax in any way. He felt his hand going clammy and was sure it was obvious to the other boys that he was sweating from nervousness. He looked over at Jackson who was lounged on the other sofa, “what’s wrong with you two?” he said clearly concerned about our lack of conversation. There was a quiet knock at the door and the same lady entered the room with a tray of tea and coffee. She placed it carefully on the table between the two sofas and looked towards the other man. She made the man his drink without asking what he wanted and then turned to Jackson to ask him if he wanted his usual, he nodded happily as she turned back to the tray and made his drink. Jackson spoke to the lady happily but Jooheon could see the worry in the other man's face. Jooheon could not pay attention to the conversation going on around him, as his head was being filled with thoughts about that was happening, but he could still tell that the man was not happy, and Jackson was irritating both of them. The conversing stopped and the lady turned to Jooheon to ask him what he wanted to drink, he answered that he just wanted a coffee with no milk or sugar so she quickly made the drink and handed it to him before picking up the tray and heading to the door. Before leaving she turned at the doorway and nodded towards Jackson who just smiled and nodded back and then she disappeared letting the door close quietly behind her.

Straight away the man and Jackson sunk into a conversation about Jackson’s tour and all the other places they would like to visit, both with big smiles plastered on their faces. Jooheon sat quietly watching both the boys conversing and was slowly sucked back into his head until Jackson laughed, making Jooheon jump slightly and grip his cup tightly between his hands. The anxiety had finally got to an uncontrollable point so Jooheon sat up quickly, breaking the boys from their conversation, and excused himself into the ensuite bathroom in the corner of the office. He stood in front of the mirror with his hands steadying him on the sink, he heard distance mumbling from the main office, but he couldn’t seem to determine who was speaking. When he was finally starting to calm down, he heard a soft knock at the door but he ignored it, they knocked again so this time he made his way over to the door and opened it slowly. He was greeted but the big built man blocking the doorway but despite this, Jooheon still tried to push past but he didn’t move at all. “I don’t want to intrude but you’re obviously aren’t ok, want to tell me what the problem is? If it’s me just say so and we can end this appointment” the man said softly and Jooheon shook his head quickly. “It is my own fault, I got all worked up before the appointment and didn’t sleep, Jackson had also hyped you up so much I was sure that you would refuse to design for me. Also, someone at my studio said you are anti-idol so I doubted that you would even see me, let alone me and Jackson together” Jooheon said finally taking a deep breath and looking back up at the man in front of him. Hoseok grinned before answering “First of all, I’m not anti-idol I’m just against the fact they are all like clones but I’m learning that’s not true. Secondly, I don’t make any decisions without the other person agreeing, so it’s up to us If we work together not just me and thirdly Jackson would muscle his way into any appointment just for free coffee and company”. Jooheon laughed and then Hoseok continued “so why don’t we go and look through some of my sketches and see if anything catches your eye?” Jooheon nodded and walked behind Hoseok back into the office where they find Jackson talking to the lady again. She looks up at Hoseok and shakes her head slightly and Jackson sits still with a smile on his face. She says her goodbyes and quickly leaves the room with just the three boys left. “Dani brought fresh tea and coffee, have you two finally sorted yourselves now?” Jackson said smiling, “shut up Jackson and pour the drinks. Hoseok said he was going to show me some designs” Jooheon said quickly, now feeling much more relaxed, he sat down of the sofa and looked up at Hoseok expectedly, who laughed loudly and then made his way over to his desk where he got his notebook and then came back to the sofa. “These are designs that aren’t allocated to any person or show, so have a look through and see if anything appeals to you while Jackson makes the drinks”. A giggle slips out at the end of the sentence and Jackson glares at him but sits forward on the sofa to make the drinks as instructed. 

The more time Jooheon spent in Hoseok’s office the more comfortable he became. The man was very calm and just enjoyed his work and was happy to share it with the people who cared and Jooheon was one of those people. Jooheon and Hoseok spoke a lot about all the different designs and clothing choices and finally, they were both satisfied with the options they had. It was late in the evening when Jooheon and Jackson had decided that they both needed to go home, so they both stood up from the comfortable sofas and said goodbye. “Thank you so much Hoseok.” Jooheon said happily, “you’re very welcome.” Hoseok said calmly, smiling at the two boys. “Well I’m glad that the two of you got on so well,” Jackson said “but I’m going to take most of the credit for this” he added laughing which got a stern look from Hoseok and a soft giggle from Jooheon. “Now come on, Jinyoung is waiting outside for us. Goodbye Hoseok, thanks for everything” Jackson shouted as he grabbed Jooheon’s arm and flew out the door into the corridor and towards the lift. As they waited for the lift Jooheon finally got his arm out of Jackson’s grip and got into the lift. They went through the lobby to the front of the building and found Jinyoung parked around the corner waiting for the both of them. They got into the car quickly and drove off towards Jooheon’s house. When they got there, Jooheon got out of the car and waved as the two boys drove off and then headed into his house where he was greeted by his two cats. He wandered around for a moment before going into the kitchen, where he made himself dinner and sat at the kitchen island to eat while his cats gently rubbed around his feet. Once he had finished eating, he gently put his plate into the sink and the headed into his bedroom, to change into his pyjamas and get into bed. He was on his phone for a while before his eyes suddenly began to feel heavy and his body could no longer stay awake. He slowly put his phone onto the bedside unit and closed his eyes and for the first time in a while, he fell asleep feeling happy about his day and how things had turned out. 

Minhyuk

Minhyuk woke up to the soft whimpering of a puppy downstairs, so he slowly got out of bed and headed downstairs without changing from his pyjamas. He went over to the playpen and stepped over the gate and sat down on the floor in front of the small beds. One small white puppy got off its bed and climbed onto Minhyuk’s lap and fell asleep. Minhyuk sat there quietly, stroking the puppy lightly when there was a light knock at the front door. He turned around slowly and saw a short man standing with his back towards the door. Minhyuk lifted the puppy slowly and wrapped his arms around it as he got up and made his way over to the door. He opened the door slowly and the man turned around to meet Minhyuk’s eyes and then smiled. “Hi, I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you weren’t open yet.” the man said in a deep voice, “it’s alright, as long as you don’t mind me in pyjamas, you can come in.” Minhyuk giggled and the man laughed as well. “only if you’re comfortable” the man said softly and Minhyuk just nodded as he stepped to the side, the man stood for a moment before making his way around Minhyuk and into the café. Minhyuk shut the door behind him and then went back over to the puppy pen to put the sleeping puppy back in its bed. Once he had done this and checked up on the other puppies, he found the man seated at a table close to the counter and took his order. Minhyuk then disappeared into the kitchen, where he made the man’s order and checked in the mirror to make sure he looked somewhat presentable. He then made his way back to the table with a tray of the man’s order and placed it down gently in front of him. Only at this point did Minhyuk finally see all of the man’s features and his actual appearance. He had dark brown hair that sat softly around his face, dark green eyes that almost looked brown in dark lighting and a sharp jaw that made his face stand out from others and was nothing like the stereotypical Korean face. Minhyuk couldn’t help but look at the man’s face and suddenly felt shy when the man suddenly looked up and met his gaze. “Sorry… I didn’t mean to stare… I’ll leave you to eat” Minhyuk stuttered and just as he was about to walk away, the man grabbed his wrist to stop him. “Why don’t you sit with me?” the man said in a deep voice that instantly melted Minhyuk, who just nodded slightly and took a seat opposite the man. “so what’s your name?” the man continued, before answering Minhyuk hesitated a little bit “it’s Minhyuk, what about you?” he said “my name’s Bang Kyu, it’s nice to meet you.” he said and nodded slightly before taking a sip of his coffee. Minhyuk nodded back slightly and felt his cheeks blush slightly, ‘I need an excuse to leave’ Minhyuk thought to himself and just after a puppy began to whine behind him. “I’m sorry I should probably go check on my puppies.” Minhyuk said as he got up from the table and walked over to the puppy pen. When he got to the pen he slowly stepped over the gate and sat down on the floor, crossing his legs, and picked up the same small white puppy off the pillow and placed it in his lap. He stroked the puppy softly until it fell back asleep and started snoring in Minhyuk’s lap. He began singing softly to himself and the puppies when he heard rattling behind him. He turned around slowly and saw the man leaning against the wall looking at Minhyuk. He turned away quickly and looked down at the puppy in his lap to hide his face, but he could still feel the man’s stare on his back. “I need to get going but thank you for your hospitality.” The man said, making Minhyuk jump slightly, “your very welcome” Minhyuk mumbled as he stood up and faced the man near the door. They both bowed to each other and the man left before smiling sweetly and winking at Minhyuk, leaving him in an embarrassed mess. Minhyuk stood in the middle of the puppy pen, still holding the small puppy, and couldn’t help but smile at the small interaction that had just taken place in his café. Shaking the feeling, he placed the puppy back down on its pillow and stepped over the gate. He looked down at his pyjamas and decided he needed to go get changed before even more people began to arrive, so he slowly made his way back up the stairs into his apartment and into his bedroom where he got changed into some comfortable black skinny jeans and a plain grey t-shirt. Once he had finished cleaning himself he went back downstairs into the café and went straight to the kitchen so he could clean the man’s leftover things. As he picked up the plate a small piece of paper fell onto the floor, so he slowly bent down to pick it up. He unfolded it and flipped it around to look at the writing. It was a phone number, written messily with a name underneath it and a small heart. Minhyuk fangirled a little at the attention he was suddenly getting and quickly shoved the piece of paper into his back pocket before continuing to clean up the stuff left by the man. He wanders back into the kitchen with the dirty things and cleans them quickly and once he finishes he decided to text Kihyun.

To: kiki  
From: Min  
A cute guy just came into my café and he left his number for me. I feel like I’m in college again lol.

To: Min  
From: kiki  
It’s about time you found yourself a boy but maybe don’t go back to your college ways lol. Let me know how it goes though. Xx 

Minhyuk smiled to himself before shoving his phone into his back pocket and cleaning the rest of the café. The rest of the day was relatively quiet with only a few other costumers coming in to play with the puppies during their work break. It got to around 4 pm and the café was completely empty so Minhyuk decided to clean up the leftover things and close up the café for the day. After putting the dirty things left by costumers in the kitchen he flipped the sign on the door to say ‘closed’ and then made his way back to the kitchen to finish cleaning. About an hour later Minhyuk had completed everything in the cafe and headed upstairs to his apartment. He slumped down on the sofa and looked up at the whale painting he did in college and smiled to himself. Memories of him with Kihyun and his other college friends came to mind and he couldn’t stop the smile on his face grow. He laughed to himself softly before getting up off the sofa and going into the kitchen area of his small studio styled apartment. As he wandered around the kitchen finding food, he looked at all the small trinkets he had hidden and that brought back the small smile. The different points in his life were being stored in little painting and photos he had, and they all meant so much to him even the random picture of Kihyun in a wig and huge sunglasses. Minhyuk left the kitchen and headed straight to his room which was separated off by a thin wall on the back of the apartment and sat down gently at the edge of his bed before falling back into his crowd of pillows and teddies. He stayed there for a moment reflecting on his past before he got back up to get showered and changed into his pyjamas. Once he had finished, he found the number the man left from his back pocket on put it in the top draw of his bedside cabinet and get into bed. He cuddled into the soft whale toy Kihyun had got him of his 18 birthday and fell asleep quickly with a small smile on his face.


	5. monday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minhyuk's relationship is getting somewhere but doesn't know whether is is a good or bad thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have decided to not write about Jooheon anymore so i can focus on Minhyuk's story and give him more attention.

Minhyuk awoke to the sudden ringing of his alarm and shifted in the bed slowly waking up. To Minhyuk’s annoyance, the ringing continued so he quickly turned it off and buried his face into the pillow. He turned over and opened his eyes, he had been busy all weekend and really didn’t want to go back to work but here he was. He sat up slowly and looked around the room trying to take in his surroundings and wake himself up properly. He climbed out of bed slowly and went over to his drawers to fond clean clothing. He slipped off his pyjamas and replaced then with clean, soft smelling clothing, which woke him up straight away. He wandered around the apartment slowly before deciding to finally go down to the café and start the day. He retrieved his phone from the bedroom before going downstairs and checked his appearance in the mirror. When he got downstairs, he was greeted by a small bundle of puppies pushing against the gate, so he walked over to them and squatted down next to them. He watched happily as the puppies played with each other and rushed towards him, hoping for attention. Not wanting to leave he got up off the floor and wandered over to the kitchen to retrieve the food and when he returned to the pen, he filled their bowls. Minhyuk giggled to himself as he watched the puppies fight over each other so they could get to their bowls. He returned back to the kitchen and placed the food back in its place before going to the front door and flipping the sign. He took a seat at a table and got his phone out from his pocket. He had been talking to Bang Kyu all weekend and somewhat liked having a boy that spoke to him so much. He typed out a quick hello and sent the message, smiling to himself as he waited for a reply which took a while but Minhyuk didn’t mind. Just as Minhyuk was about to put his phone away it buzzed and showed a message from Kyu.

Bang Kyu: Hi. I’m working today so can’t talk. Soz  
Minhyuk: That’s ok. We’ll talk later. Have a good day xx

Minhyuk was satisfied with his response so he hit send and placed his phone onto the table in front of him. The bell behind him rung lightly and a small gust of wind entered the café, making Minhyuk shiver. He picked his phone off the table and placed it in his pocket as he turned around to meet the costumer. He was greeted by a short boy looking shyly at the floor, twiddling with his thumbs but Minhyuk could still see the smile on his face. ‘hi there’ Minhyuk said happily and the boy looked up at him. ‘sorry I know its early, but I was wondering if it was okay to get drinks to take away,’ the boy said quietly and Minhyuk gave him a soft smile which made the boy relax a little bit. ‘it’s quite a big order, do you think it will be ok?’ the boy continued and Minhyuk nodded happily. ‘for how many people?’ Minhyuk questioned and the boys hesitated before answering, ‘for 21 people’ the boy answered shyly, looking back at the floor. Minhyuk paused for a moment to think about the room in his kitchen and if it would be possible but shook that thought aside and answered the boy. ‘yes that’s fine, come to the counter and give me your order’ the boy looked up with a huge grin after Minhyuk spoke and followed him to the counter. ‘so what can I get for you?’ Minhyuk asked happily, grabbing at a pad of paper and pen. The boy hesitated again before speaking and slowly read from his phone the list of drinks that he needs. Minhyuk listened carefully as he wrote and occasionally read them back to make sure he got everything right. Once they had finally got everything right Minhyuk went into the kitchen and began making the drinks, once in a while looking through the hatch to check on the boy who had made his way over to the puppies and was on the floor playing with them. He finally finished making all the drinks and placed them into a few bags before walking back into the main café area and stopping near the puppy pen. He stood for a moment and watched as the boy played with the puppies carefully with a big grin on his face. ‘your drinks are ready’ Minhyuk said quietly, to not make the boy jump and placed the bags on the table next to him. ‘thank you so much. It means so much to me tat you did this’ the said softly, holding a puppy close to his chest as he stood up slowly. ‘I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what group are you in?’ Minhyuk asked quiet and the boy smiled happily in response. ‘I’m from SM entertainment. I’m in NCT127,’ the boys said and then continued ‘my names Taeyong’. Minhyuk processed this information and his mouth spoke before he could think about it. ‘how come you needed 21 drinks then?’ Minhyuk asked and Taeyong giggled slightly. ‘well NCT is a very big group with little sub-units so altogether there are 21 of us’ Taeyong said and Minhyuk nodded happily. ‘that makes sense, sorry if that’s a stupid question’ Minhyuk said slightly embarrassed and Taeyong shook his head in response, ‘it’s fine, I’ve heard worse’. ‘well it was nice meeting you, I’m Minhyuk by the way’ Minhyuk said bowing slightly and Taeyong bowed back. ‘thank you for your help Minhyuk, I must get going now though so can I give you this puppy and ill take my drinks’ Taeyong said as he handed Minhyuk the small puppy that was cuddled to his chest. ‘ok, have a good day’ Minhyuk said as Taeyong picked the bags up from the table and left the café before waving goodbye and bowing slightly.

Just as Taeyong left the cafe and Minhyuk returned the puppy, the bell on the door rung quietly and Bang Kyu entered the café. ‘who was that?’ he said bluntly and Minhyuk froze looking in his direction. ‘Minhyuk, hello, I asked who that was’ Bang Kyu said again and Minhyuk finally spoke, ‘just an idol, getting drinks’. Bang Kyu looked at Minhyuk closely and seemed to be examining him, ‘well I gathered that but what was his name?’ he said again bluntly and Minhyuk hesitated before saying anything. ‘you know I can’t share information on the idols’ Minhyuk said quietly, finding himself scared of Bang Kyu’s reaction. ‘I know, I’m sorry. I’ve just had a long day at work. I’ve missed you today’ Bang Kyu said softly and Minhyuk relaxed as he stepped towards him. Bang Kyu pulled him into a tight hug and Minhyuk rested his chin on Kyu’s shoulder, ‘I missed you too’ he said with a smile on his face. Bang Kyu pulled away from the hug but held onto Minhyuk’s waist softly and Minhyuk smiled happily when they made eye contact. ‘have you had many idols in today’ Bang Kyu asked and Minhyuk smiled, ‘it’s only 12pm’ he giggled and the shine in Bang Kyu’s eyes faded slightly. ‘I know that, but you could have been busy’ bang kyu said flatly but Minhyuk shook it off and smiled happily at him. ‘I need to go clean up the kitchen, give me two minutes and then my attention will be all yours for a while’ Minhyuk said happily as he stepped out of Bang Kyu’s grip and towards the kitchen. When he got to the kitchen, he looked through the hatch and could see Bang Kyu with the puppies while looking at his phone. Minhyuk looked away and continued cleaning and sighed when he finally had finished everything. He stepped out of the kitchen and back to the main café area but stood frozen when he saw the empty café. Minhyuk looked around the café slowly and punched himself slightly, if he hadn’t been so closed off about the idols, he may have had a proper conversation with Bang Kyu, and he wouldn’t have left. The rest of the day went by in a blur, all Minhyuk could do was think about the things that he did wrong and why he had to fuck it up, after all bang kyu only wanted to know about him.

Minhyuk slowly staggered up the stairs after closing the café and threw himself onto his bed. All he could think about was how he had fucked up yet another potential relationship because of how protective he was about the idols. He hadn’t heard from Bang Kyu all day and it really did upset him that he had lost all that attention. Suddenly his phone buzzed next to him and he sprung up to get it, but his energy was short lasting when he saw it was only one of his friends. He clicked on the message and realised it was from Mark (Got7)

Mark: Hey mate. Was wondering if you wanted to meet tomorrow, didn’t get to talk much last time lol. Just let me know when and where if you can.  
Minhyuk: Hey, I would really like that I’ve missed our chats. How about we meet at my café at 12pm and then we can decide from there.  
Mark: That sounds good, can’t wait to see you. Some of the boys might tag along as well btw.  
Minhyuk: More the merrier lol, see you tomorrow x  
Mark: See you tomorrow x

Minhyuk grinned happily and felt his brain finally ease off, he was shattered so he slowly pulled himself off the bed and got changed into his pyjamas. He flopped into bed and snuggled deep into the sea of cushions and stuffies, his heavy eyes pulled shut and he slowly drifted off to sleep.


	6. tuesday

Minhyuk awoke still cuddled up to his teddies and let out a soft sigh as he sat up. He shifted around in the bed trying to find his phone and eventually found it under his pillow. The time was 10am and he had a missed message from Mark so he opened it and smiled immediately when he was greeted by a selfie of four boys. Mark, Yugyeom, Jackson and Jinyoung were all squished into the frame and they all had big grins on their faces. Minhyuk looked and there was a little message underneath saying they were on their way as the boys couldn’t wait to see him. Minhyuk gasped as he threw the blanket off him and ran over to his drawers. He rummaged through trying to find clothing and eventually decided on a baggy black t-shirt and black ripped jeans. He picked up his phone from the bed and wrote out a quick message to mark and sent it.

Minhyuk: I woke up a little late. If you get here before i'm downstairs, there is a lockbox on the wall with a key in it. The code in 2015.  
Mark: no problem. We are about 10 minutes away, see you soon.

Minhyuk smiled at mark’s kindness before throwing the phone down onto the bed and walking into the bathroom. He splashed water onto his face and looked into the mirror to fix his hair. After a couple minutes of playing with it he just let it do its own thing and instead brushed his teeth. Just as he finished, he heard the puppies starting to bark which meant that the boys were probably here. He checked his appearance in the mirror one last time before picking his phone off of the bed and heading downstairs. He was greeted by the four boys all giggling with the puppies and chatting to each other and when they realised, they all ginned widely and rushed over to him. Minhyuk was bombarded with hugs from each of the boys and multiple conversations at once. ‘one at a time, I only have two ears’ Minhyuk giggled and the boys slowly fell quiet after giggling as well. ‘so where are we going min’ Yugyeom asked excitedly and Minhyuk shrugged. ‘I don’t know I thought we could decide that together’ Minhyuk said and all the boys nodded in agreement. Glances were exchanged between all of the boys and they eventually all looked towards Minhyuk. ‘I want to go to an amusement park,’ mark said excitedly ‘they have a new roller coaster and it’s supposed to be amazing’. Mark and Yugyeom squealed in excitement with Minhyuk and they turn to look at a cringing Jackson and a concerned Jinyoung. ‘do we have to go there; you know Jackson does like amusement parks that much’ Jinyoung said quietly and they all looked towards Jackson. ‘it’s ok Jinyoungie, I can do other stuff and it’ll still be fun’ Jackson said placing his hand gently onto Jinyoung’s arm. Minhyuk watched Jackson and Jinyoung carefully they conversed between themselves and smiled to himself. ‘ok, that’s the plan then’ Minhyuk said happily and the boys smiled excitedly. All the boys gathered their things and said goodbye to the puppies, they left chatting to each other and laughing between them. They reached the boys car and all climbed into the car, sitting down squished next to each other. The whole way to the park they chatted and listened to multiple playlists of music. Minhyuk was happy to have a distraction away from the café and everything happening with Bang Kyu, and he was so happy that it was these boys he was spending the day with. While Minhyuk was talking to mark and Yugyeom at the back of the car he couldn’t help but notice Jackson and Jinyoung at the front of the car. Jackson had his arm wrapped around Jinyoung’s and had his head against his shoulder, while sharing earphones. Minhyuk smiled at them before returning back to the conversation with mark and Yugyeom who had somehow got onto the topic of girl group dances and what one was their favourite.

They eventually got to the amusement park and all pilled out of the car in excitement, Jackson still holding onto Jinyoung tightly. Minhyuk looked around at the four boys happily and they all walked towards the entrance together. ‘I’ll go pay for my ticket while you boys sort out your own’ Minhyuk said as he turned and began to walk away but he was pulled back by mark. ‘you’re not paying for anything, we messed up your café so this is us paying you back’ mark said firmly but also kindly and Minhyuk just smiled as he recalled that day in the café. Minhyuk stood with Jackson, Jinyoung and Yugyeom chatting as Mark went to go get their tickets, and finally returned with 4 wristbands for them. They all helped each other with the wristbands and eventually got hem all on and with a small cheer they all set off through the huge park. It was fairly empty so the boys weren’t stopped a lot and the workers said they would restrict the number of people in so they could get through, hassle free. Minhyuk watched as the four other boys separated into pairs and talked about what they wanted to do. Minhyuk couldn’t help but smile at the boys and felt happy that he was lucky enough to friends with boys like theses and how down to earth they were even though they were idols. Minhyuk was suddenly brought out of his thought when Yugyeom grabbed his arm excitedly and started bouncing on the spot next to him, ‘Minhyuk hyung, come on that with me,’ he said as he pointed over to a giant roller coaster ‘mark is coming too’. Minhyuk laughed at the boys happily before nodding and following Yugy as he rushed towards the back of the line. Minhyuk realised that Jackson and Jinyoung weren’t with them so he turned to find mark and decided to as him. ‘mark, where are the other two?’ Minhyuk said loudly and mark gestured over to a bench where he saw Jackson and Jinyoung seated next to each other chatting. ‘jack doesn’t like roller coasters so he’ll wait with Jinyoung and they will meet us after’ Mark said and smiled back at Minhyuk. Minhyuk nodded understandingly and looked over at the two boys who were cuddled next to each other, immersed in their conversations. Minhyuk looked away from the two boys and back at the now short queue in front of him, he was excited and Yugy was happily bouncing next to him which made him even happier.  
After getting off the roller coaster, Minhyuk, Yugyeom and Mark are all bright red and giggling together happily. They stumble over to Jinyoung and Jackson and all stand in front of them trying to balance themselves only to end up falling over each other. Jackson looked away from Jinyoung and up at the three boys and smiled, ‘this is why I don’t do roller coasters’ Jackson laughed and Jinyoung smiled widely beside him. ‘on to the next thing then?’ Minhyuk said happily and all the boys agreed. ‘maybe something for all of us to go on’ Jinyoung said quietly to Minhyuk and Minhyuk nodded in response, ‘that sounds good’. Minhyuk always knew that Jinyoung and Jackson cared for each other but now it seemed different, there seemed to be something more between them. He needed to know more so he decided to find Mark and ask him. After searching with his eyes for a while, he finally found him standing near the map with Yugy, so he carefully made his way over. ‘hey, can I ask you something?’ Minhyuk said, getting marks attention who just nodded. ‘are Jinyoung and Jackson dating?’ Minhyuk asked curiously and mark just froze in his spot next to Yugy. ‘ye…yeah… how did you know?’ mark stuttered quietly and Minhyuk laughed to himself. ‘I’ve been gay pretty much my whole life. I can see these things’ Minhyuk responded and mark laughed loudly attracting the attention of others walking past. ‘you’re so loud when you laugh’ Minhyuk said smacking marks arm lightly causing Yugyeom to laugh as well. ‘I want food!’ Jackson shouted as he ran up behind Minhyuk and grabbed onto his shoulders. ‘what do you want then?’ Minhyuk laughed back and Jackson shrugged his shoulders like a child sulking. ‘very helpful jack’ mark smiled, and Jackson pouted. ‘how about that burger van, I saw they do cheese sticks’ Jinyoung said to Jackson and he nodded excitedly, ‘yeah lets go there!’ Jackson said, already walking over to the van while holding onto Jinyoung’s hand. Minhyuk, Mark and Yugyeom followed the two boys and they all stood in line choosing what they wanted together. They finally all got what they wanted and found a seat where they all sat and at while discussing what they wanted to do next. They had finally decided to go on a ride that was exciting enough for Mark and Yugyeom but calm enough for Jackson, so once they had finished, they made their way over and got into the queue. Minhyuk stood and watched as the four boys spoke and laughed together, they really are a family Minhyuk thought to himself. The four boys sat in pairs on the ride and Minhyuk happily took a back seat to watch them. as the ride went around Minhyuk could hear Jackson in front of him shouting Jinyoung’s name and scream-laughing the whole time, only stopping when the ride had come to a halt and they all climbed off. The boys laughed together as the tried to gain the balance and fell against each other, holding onto each others shoulders and hands they all finally managed to centre themselves.

The day came to an end with all five boys, screaming out the lyrics to kill this love by blackpink in the car back to Minhyuk’s. ‘thank you for today,’ Minhyuk said as they pulled up in front of the café and Jinyoung turned the music down on his phone ‘I really needed it’. ‘today was a good day, we should do it more often’ Jinyoung said happily and they all nodded in agreement. ‘well ill see you all later, send my love to the other boys’ Minhyuk said as he got out the car and waved goodbye. He turned on the pavement and looked at his small café and smiled, it was his home and had been for years. He unlocked the door and made his way into the cafe and could hear the puppies whining for him so he made his way over to them smiling. Some were sleeping and some where awake and playing so Minhyuk played with them for a moment before feeding them and heading up stairs. He went into his bedroom and perched onto the edge of the bed as he got out his phone and brought it to life. ‘shit’ Minhyuk said out loud as he saw the missed messages from Kyu and instantly clicked on them. 

Kyu: hey min, I’m off today can I come to the café? 10:30am  
Kyu: Minhyuk?? Where are you and why is the café empty? 12:15pm  
Kyu: Min why are you ignoring me 12:17pm  
Kyu: Have I done something wrong 12:24pm  
Kyu: Just tell me what I did 12:29pm  
Kyu: I guess you don’t care 1:36pm  
Kyu: I thought you were the type to not ghost someone 1:42pm  
Kyu: Guess I was wrong 1:43pm  
Kyu: Baby where are you?? 5:54pm  
Kyu: Please answer me 6:35pm  
Kyu: Fine. I hope you had a good day. 9:23pm

Minhyuk panicked, he had made Kyu think he did something wrong. He was still fucking up this relationship, if only he had told him first instead of blanking him. How can I be so stupid, Minhyuk asked himself, he probably doesn’t even want to talk to me anymore. Minhyuk sat with his phone in his hand and started down at it thinking about how to reply. He slowly began typing the message but when he finished all he could do was stare at it, finally he hit send and threw his phone behind him. He couldn’t stand to wait for a response, so he gathered his things and got in the shower. He let the hot water fall over his body and closed his eyes tight, he sunk to the floor and buried his face into his hands letting a small tear roll down his face. He was alone again.


	7. wednesday

Wednesday 10th  
Minhyuk laid awake in his bed, staring at the ceiling as the silence surrounded him; he hadn’t slept all night and the empty feeling was still there. There was no response from Bang Kyu and Minhyuk had given up trying after he sent the sixth message apologizing. He listened as the alarm went off beside his head and he flung his arm around to find his phone and turn off the piercing noise. He rolled out of bed slowly and wandered around the room aimlessly before finally getting ready. His phone buzzed on the bed and he felt his heart skip a beat, he basically ran over to the bed and gathered up his phone only to see it was a message from Mark. However the message still brought some comfort to him.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mark: just wanted to say thank you for yesterday, we all really enjoyed ourselves and was glad we got to spend time with you.  
Minhyuk: no problem mark, I really needed it so thank you. Hopefully, we can do something again soon.

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Minhyuk threw his phone back on the bed with a sigh before walking away to finish getting ready. The day was quiet and Minhyuk tried everything to distract himself, but it just wasn’t working. He found himself always looking at his phone and knew he was waiting for something he wasn’t going to get. He had lost the only thing he might have been able to call his own. Sure, he had other things that he loved and cherished, but he had to share all of them and none of it was just for him. Kihyun he had to share with the library and apparently this new boy, got7 were idols so they always put work and each other first and his family had all moved away once he had found a job and settled into his own home. He was so stupid to think that he could actually have something of his own that cared and paid attention to him. He knew it was too good to be true.

Minhyuk’s thoughts were broken when the bell on the door rang and a small crowd of boys entered the café quietly. He looked up from his hands and looked at the boys, none of them were recognisable so Minhyuk bowed respectfully as they approached the counter. ‘what can I do for you boys’ Minhyuk said forcing on a fake smile. ‘can we stay for a while and play with the puppies?’ one of the boys said nervously and Minhyuk felt his body relax at the familiar feeling. ‘of course they are all awake and ready to play so you can go over now’ Minhyuk said happily, showing a real smile, and the boys all turned and rushed towards the puppy pen. Minhyuk smiled as he watched the boys step into the pen and collapse to the floor when they were bombarded by the excited puppies.

Minhyuk wandered around the café, mindlessly, occasionally checking on the boys and the puppies but he still couldn’t seem to stop thinking about Bang Kyu. He stood at the counter fiddling with the till to look busy but soon zoned out. The heat of the room began to surrounded him and his head suddenly felt compressed. Slowly, his knees buckled under him and he fell to the floor, letting go of everything in his grip. 

Minhyuk woke to the boys surrounded around him, they all fell quietly as Minhyuk sat up and looked around at them. ‘are you ok?’ one of the boys said quietly, looking at Minhyuk with worry. Minhyuk gave a weary smile and placed his hand on the boy’s leg, ‘I’m ok, sorry for scaring you boys’ Minhyuk said softly and all the boys let out a soft sigh. ‘lets get you up and on a proper seat’ another boy said softly as he put out a hand for Minhyuk, who took it gratefully and was pulled up from the floor carefully and moved over to a nearby table. Minhyuk sat at the table and looked up at the group of worried faces and smiled, ‘I’m ok boys, I just need to eat something and get some rest’ Minhyuk said quietly but the boys expressions didn’t change. ‘we can do you some food’ one of the boys said quietly and smiled down at Minhyuk waiting for his response, ‘that would be lovely’ Minhyuk said, deciding there was no point in arguing. He watched as the 9 boys broke into their own conversation when suddenly one of the boys took control of the situation. He began splitting the group and gave them all things to do around the café. 3 boys were sent over to the puppies, 4 were directed around the café to start cleaning and the last 2 went into the kitchen to start making food. It didn’t take long before 7 of the boys reappeared in front of Minhyuk and sat down carefully around him, ‘you must be a very experienced group’ Minhyuk laughed and all the boys shook their heads slightly in response. ‘we only debuted this year’ one of the boys said and Minhyuk sat in shock, ‘you’re a rookie group?’ Minhyuk stuttered and the boys nodded happily in contrast to Minhyuk’s shock. 

Before Minhyuk could say anything else, a voice came from the kitchen and two of the boys shot up and ran to the kitchen together. Minhyuk was shocked, only a rookie group and yet they are more organised then got7 he thought to himself and smiled. The two boys returned with trays of food and placed them gently on the tables, and the others slowly followed behind them. ‘I hope you don’t mind but I made enough food for everyone’ one of the boys said shyly as he sat down, ‘since you cleaned my café it’s the most I could do for you all’ Minhyuk said and all the boys gave happy smiles in his direction.

The group of boys said their thanks and bowed respectfully to Minhyuk before digging into the flood that was displayed in front of them. Minhyuk watched them share and disperse the food and suddenly caught the eye of the boys sitting in front of him. They looked at each other for a moment quietly before the boy spoke gently, ‘we’re DKB by the way. We’re a rookie group from Brave Entertainment. My names D1 and I’m the leader along with E-Chan.’ Minhyuk watched as another boy turned and nodded at Minhyuk slightly. ‘your both leaders?’ Minhyuk asked quietly and the two boys nodded gently, ‘we decided that because there were so many of us, it would be easier to have two leaders, so it came down to the two of us.’ E-Chan said, breaking the eyes contact with Minhyuk and looking around at the boys surrounding them. Minhyuk nodded and smiled at the two leaders as they broke into their own conversation, before turning back to the table of food and beginning to pick at the food. He ate slowly, but enough to fill him up, However it didn’t take long before the plates were empty and the boys began to clear the tables. ‘should we do rock paper scissors to figure out who will do the washing up’ one of the boys said happily and they all stuck their hands out ready to play. Minhyuk stood from his seat and stuck is hand out with the rest of the boys who stopped to watch him. ‘this is our mess so we will clean it, you go get some rest’ D1 said bluntly and Minhyuk didn’t have the energy to argue so he nodded before wandering over to the puppies and flopping down onto one of the beanbags. He was instantly crowded by the puppies and they climbed up onto his lap and snuggled into him. The warmth of them surrounded his body and his mind finally eased, he watched the boys scurry around the café in front of him and it wasn’t long before he dozed off to their soft chattering.

Minhyuk awoke to a soft touch slowly bringing him out of his dreams and he was slowly raised up in the beanbag. He opened his eyes to meet one of the boys and shook his head lightly trying to gather his surroundings. ‘hey, I’m Yuku and this is Junseo. We were told to take you home’ Yuku said quietly as Junseo stepped forward and carefully moved the puppies off Minhyuk’s lap and back onto their beds. Minhyuk stood carefully and looked at the floor to help stable himself. ‘I live upstairs so I don’t have to go far’ Minhyuk said finally and both boys smiled widely in response. ‘ok, well you can tell us what you want us to do with the cafe and then I will help you upstairs’ Yuku said politely and Minhyuk stopped to think before answering. How can these boys be so polite and respectful to someone they don’t even know, Minhyuk thought to himself before looking up and meeting Yuku’s eyes and smiling. ‘well I can give you keys so you can lock up the café and then you can use the back door to get out as I don’t lock it’ Minhyuk said questionably and the two boys nodded in front of him. ‘that sounds like a good plan. Here I’ll help you upstairs’ Yuku said as he held out a hand to Minhyuk who took it carefully. 

Minhyuk allowed himself to lean on Yuku a little bit as he made his way upstairs and was grateful when he was held onto tightly by the other boy. He finally made it up the stairs and released his grip on Yuku slightly but didn’t let go completely until he got to the sofa and the boy carefully sat Minhyuk down. ‘thank you…uh… sorry… I’ve already forgotten your name’ Minhyuk said blushing and the boy smiled gently at Minhyuk. ‘it’s ok, it’s a difficult name to remember. My names Yuku’ the boy said as he sat carefully across from Minhyuk and smiled shyly. ‘you’re not Korean, are you?’ Minhyuk said without thinking and instantly felt stupid for being so straight forward but the boy just giggled. ‘no I’m not, I’m from japan’ Yuku said and Minhyuk smiled at the young boy across from him. Minhyuk could feel his eyes getting heavy and for the brief moment he closed his eyes he didn’t want to open them again. Without opening his eyes he felt Yuku stand up and walk around the apartment for a moment before coming back and carefully placing a blanket over him. Minhyuk gave a weak smile and thanked him in a mumbled and fell into a deep sleep after hearing the front door shut as Yuku left.


End file.
